But the more proximate cause of my error was that I did not take full account of the impact of hurricane Sandy and of Governor Chris Christie's bipartisan march through New Jersey arm in arm with President Obama. Not to mention Christie's fawning promotion of Obama's presidential leadership.

It made all the difference. ... By working seamlessly with an acerbic Republican Governor like Christie, Obama was able to blunt Romney's advantage in this crucial area.

He then embraces the reality — that Republicans are having trouble connecting with a n increasingly diverse electorate. He writes that the GOP's "tilt toward white middle aged and older voters is ghettoizing the party so that even bad economic times are not enough to sway the election."

"If Romney couldn't manage this trick against Obama in the current economy, no Republican could," Morris writes.

Morris had predicted Romney would win 325 electoral votes to Obama's 213. He said Romney would carry the swing states of Virginia, Colorado, Iowa, Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Minnesota — all of which went to the president.